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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

' C. S. BRAKE..

GUIDE RAIL FOR ROPE RAILWAY GLUTGHES.

Patented May 80, 1882.

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(No M0de1.) i 2 sheets-sheet 2.

C. S. DRAKE.

GUIDE RAIL FOR ROPE RAILWAY GLUTGHES. No. 258,562l Patented May 30, 1882.

gull Q- Pil I %8 4/ l b t y MMX Nrrnn STATES amener erre.

CHARLES S. BRAKE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

GUIDE-RAIL FOR ROPE=RAILWAY CLUTCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,562, dated May 30, 1882.

Application filed October 19, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. DRAKE, of San Francisco, in the county ot San Francisco, and in the State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guide-Rails for Rope-Railway Clutches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ot' reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement which is applicable to street-railways where the cars are propelled by means of an endless rope or cable, which is arranged in a tube or channel beneath the surface of the roadway, and which receives a continuous rotary motion from a prime motor located at a convenient station.

My object is to prevent the filling up ofthe tube or channel in which the rope or cable is arranged by surfacewashings, dirt, snow, Svc.; and the nature of my invention consists in continuous yielding strips of steel or other suitable metal arranged in guides and so acted on by springs that while the shank which is attached to each car, and which bears the rope or cable grip, shall be allowed to pass freely between them, said strips will be kept closed before and behind the shank, as will be hereinafter explained.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a plan view in detail, showing sections ot' two rails forming the slot and a horizontal sect-ion ot' the shank. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the shank and one of the rails. Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection ot' the rails, the closing-strips, and the rail-supports. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the shank in its place and the gripping-wheels embracing the cable. Fig. 5 is a sectional view, showing one rail and a spring for closing the slot or channel.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A Adesignate two inverted-T-shaped rails, which are laid down parallel to each other, leaving a slot or channel between them, through which a vertical shank, B, passes freely. This shank B is rigidly secured to a car-bed, and is provided at its lower end with annularly grooved gripping-wheels IV, adapted for gripping an endless rope or cable, C.

The gripping-wheels are provided with means, not herein claimed, whereby a person in the can can cause them to bind on the cable or to be freed from the cable at the will of the attendant.

The shank B is provided with vertical antifriction rollers D, arranged so that they protrude alternately from opposite sides of the shank and roll against the edges of two closingstrips, E E, which are preferably made ot' steel, and which meet half-way between the rails A A, as shown in Fig. 3. These strips are designed for closing the slot or channel between the rails, and they are guided in brackets Q' and acted'ron by means of springs G. The drawings represent the continuous strips E inclined in opposite directions and arranged just below the bases ot the rails.

It will be seen from the above description that the closing-strips will yield and allow the shank B to pass freely between them, and then close by their own elasticity and the recoil ot' the springs behind them.

Having described my invention, I claiml. Thecombinationoftheiiiverted-Tshaped rails, the'continuous elastic closing-strips, the guides therefor, and the bow-springs applied behind the said strips, substantially as described.

2. The combination ot' the anti-friction rollers, arranged as described, with the shank, sub stantially as and for the purposes explained.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 17th day ot' September, 1881.

CHARLES s. Dnakn.

Witnesses:

SAML. S. MURFEY, S. MUNno. 

